New in Karlstad ... on a cold and rainy day

In the last blog I had mentioned the wonderful second hand sector that Sweden has. The bustling second hand stores surprised me when I arrived here. I guess when we learn about Sweden from afar we think technology, sustainability, expendable income and ... well we don’t think about second hand.

What is so wonderful about the whole second hand shopping thing is that even a rich somebody who has just donated some wonderful clothes, shoes or even furniture, can be found the very next weekend filling their shopping cart at one of the many stores around town.

I have even heard tale, and intend to make a visit, to the second hand shopping mall, Re Tuna in Eskilstuna, near Stockholm. Here all the shops sell up scaled, up cycled, remodelled or just reused stuff, from clothes, to furniture, artistic modelling of items that were once something else altogether and all go for thrift. The mall is built right next door to the recycling dump so that goods really don’t travel very far at all!

I almost feel that I may begin to associate the word thrift with Sweden and the Swedes. On a weekend, many a visit to a thrift store has a kind of party vibe to it. There have been some days when I have arrived early, I think it was even mid-week on a Wednesday, and there was a queue at the door or eager shoppers looking for bargains to pick up.

In Karlstad, our largest store is Solareturen and here I sat once for a full hour watching people come and go, beckon to each other, find treasure amongst the clutter and leave with smiles. There were two bearded Swedes who left with seven clocks! A beautiful blonde with a bag of clothes, some excited children with a new game and a pair of roller skates each. Alice found some ice skates. And I found .... well that is the problem, I find so many wonderful things that I would love to buy. I have to have a tight reign on myself. There is simply no room in my suitcase!

I have made one other error, a slip of the tongue you could say. In Australia where I did my bachelor second hand shops were called Op shops, in the UK they are charity shops .... here it is not charity, it is treasure and the shops boldly advertise themselves as second hand shops.

So here indeed, for new students in Karlstad who wish to decorate their new residences, to buy warmer clothes, to find a gift, please do not head straight to Ikea as it seems so many people do, take time to visit the wonderful second hand shops, be a part of the atmosphere and find some treasure.

There are seven second hand shops that I know of in Karlstad: Solareturen, Gengavan, Red Cross, Stadsmissionen and Myrorna. The largest and most exciting for window shopping in Solareturen. Here furniture is mixed in with sports gear, DIY materials and carpets merge seamlessly, glassware, cutlery, crockery and beautiful ornaments are all eye and light catching. Magazines and books share the aisle with lights and electric items, speakers, computers, curtains and bed linens. Clothes and shoes hog the end of the aisle and it is hard to get away without finding something you like!

Gengavan has two floors, the upper floor is full to bursting with clothes and shoes but it is the beds and the large furniture here that I love. I construct a house of dreams, this bedside table here, that bed there! Downstairs is a little cafe with cheap food (albeit not with too many choices in the menu), sports gear hangs about with sofas and there is the usual clutter of glassware, cooking ware and ornaments.

Myrona is delightful for glassware. Sweden is a glass blowing country and some of the items they produce are so very beautiful that I guess the Swedes forget the beauty because you see it everywhere. Myrona also prides itself in finding retro items that are sold at rather higher prices but that are snapped up quickly. Here too one can find all the other paraphernalia from picture frames, to LPs to food mixers.

Stadsmissionen is my favourite but it is tiny ... although it does have fantastic prices. This is where I have kitted myself out for winter.

Finally ... except there are a few more that I am not going to mention ...there is the red Cross which sits directly across from my University bus stop to which a bus arrives every ten minutes. This is one of the reasons that I am in the Red Cross most every day. The other reason is that my wonderful friend Alice works there and so I must call in to see her, otherwise it would be rude would it not!

But these second hand shops are not only treasure hunting stores. They are places for the new Karlstad residents to get to know people. Many new people, from immigrants to Europeans volunteer at the shops so as to learn or practice Swedish, make friends and build up full days. For this alone these shops are vital.         

The inner workings of the Red Cross

The Red Cross is just a small shop with a large basement. It is in the basement that the clothes are washed and ironed (all by volunteers), hung on hangers and sorted by value. The clothes are given a colour code on their price tag and are rotated every month. So after a minth on the hangar and if the item is still not sold it is put to waste. But waste at the Red Cross shop means either a different set of volunteers will come and collect clothes that they will send on to Germany where it will be shredded for insulation or landfill. This German association is set up and maintained by the Red Cross.

Landfill is a very depressing end for clothes that have only been worn seven or eight times (from The Story of Stuff), or not at all! Clothes donated from brands that produce cheap quality base layers like H&M or ..... (insert cheap brand that you buy here)  are not able to be stored long term with other clothes as they disintegrate and cause decay in the other clothes.

One thing we can all do to help, is to wear all the clothes we have, wear them to the bitter end and then go shopping for new ones in the second hand stores!

The End of the Day

When you are done with all the shopping... and it is still raining, head to Karlstad's own coffee house, Lofbergs. Here they grind and roast the coffee fresh. If you phone ahead you are able to take a tour around the coffee roasting plant in this tall glass building after (or before) sipping a tasty coffee!

Tips for Erasmus students:

• The second hand shop tour is a full day out and about in Karlstad, great if the weather is bad as there are buses connecting them all. Visiting them will give you a sense of the city.
• The main Swedish site for buying second hand goods online (as well as looking for accommodation) is Blocket.
• The Story of Stuff is a very intereting story to look up.

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